What is the purpose of life?

An eternal question, what is the purpose of life?, occupied philosophers’ thoughts throughout history. Stone pictographs reveal even primitive peoples reflected on this query. Each one has the capacity to define his or her personal thinking about politics, economics and religion.

Discussion Forum

Do politicians' beliefs about evolution matter? Reasonable people, whether they cotton to communism or the Constitutional Party or anything in between, ought to be alarmed at the fact that leading contenders for the Republican presidential…Continue

Obama is pushing to Fast Track the TPP and TPIP, which means congress will vote to pass them with NO DEBATE or public scrutiny. Under the guise of protecting trade, they'll empower unrestrained corporate profit, with no regard for public good....…Continue

Are you ready for Cold War 2.0 and a fossil fuel free-for-all surge from Mexico to Canada? Michael Klare describes the Republican campaign strategy for "a nightmare of environmental degradation and global conflict."…Continue

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I am pessimistic in the short run about our political life in the USA and on the Earth; Working with civil rights groups such as with blacks, Native Americans and women, I recognize how far we have come but how far we have to go on all these fronts. Now we have the added struggle to protect the environment and fight against a renewal of a class society. I am only becoming acutely aware of GLBT human rights issues. Many of the people I love most dearly have not a clue what these issues are all about and the most common things I hear from loved ones are: "don't be so negative", or "look on the positive side", or "get over it and get on with your life".

The Roman Catholic church and the far right Protestant churchs seem to be joining together to make a powerful coalition to put religious dogma into our civic affairs and that can only mean trouble for GLBT and blacks and atheists and women and the poor. Fascist rule doesn't have to happen. Hitler didn't have to happen, nor did Mussolini.

Giving money in the amounts you and I can give is just throwing money down a deep hole in the ground. We can't match the millions pouring in from those who have vast amounts of unearned income. Using money on robocalls doesn't seem like a good investment to me; I don't answer my phone these days and let the answering machine pick up whatever comes in. I can stay in touch with people via internet better anyway.

Equality and compassion are my two main issues; they aren't going to happen, yet. There are not enough people in real pain, yet. Perhaps such things will not come in our generation.

So, where does that leave you and me and others who care about the things we care about? One thing I know for sure, an individual can't make powerful changes alone, even as I realize the really great changes in human enterprise has come about because of some leader that is able to inspire and motivate others toward a common goal. People like Margaret Sanger, Eleanor Roosevelt, Aung San Suu Kyi, Rosa Parks, and Sally Ride.

"Vandana Shiva discusses agriculture, biodiversity, sustainability, and the importance of making peace with the Earth. Shiva, a philosopher, activist, author, and eco feminist, is trained as a physicist, and is particularly interested in quantum mechanics and biotechnology. In Part 1 of her presentation, Shiva discusses her entry into the sciences, which eventually put her on a path of environmental activism. She emphasizes that we must not fall prey to a monocultural, mechanistic framework of thinking, which leads to the degradation of the planet."

2. William Lazonick: “Romney administration is the nation's best chance of destroying the American dream.”

3. Gar Alperovitz: “Romney clearly would be more likely to hasten the next financial crisis.”

4. Dean Baker: “Romney doesn't take any restraints on the banking system seriously.

5. James K. Galbraith: “Under the Democrats, the coming campaign for 'fiscal responsibility' might just be bad enough to push the financial sector back over the edge. Still, that's not a reason to vote for Romney."

6. Thomas Ferguson: “I’d say that under either man a future banking crisis is a serious risk, but that under Romney the likelihood is even higher."

"We need a law to stop candidates needing ALOT of money to stand for office in the first place." That is exactly the way I read events. Obama received big BIG $ from corporations for his first election, and getting much less now. Obama says exactly the right words, speaks from his heart, means to be a good president, but the forces against him are way too high, our government is now an aoligarchy and will not change until and unless the people demand change. As long as there are people who believe the lies and distortions, they continue to live in denial and delude themselves. I wonder where Obama's economic principles lay, after all he did pump more money into rescuing the banks instead of the homeowner or students with debts. After coming into office Obama codified into law things that were counter to his rhetoric. Was it because he agreed with what he signed? or was forced to sign? or was confused? You decide:

Obama enabled a “Foreclosure Crisis that is actually the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. It has been planned by insiders for decades, and NO insiders have been prosecuted.”

"Austerity?" "Fiscally conservative?" both imply the people who will pay are those who produced the goods and services, not the banks and corporations that created the crisis. Sound familiar? Does it sound fair? How much more austere can you be?